NHRM scam: CBI raids in UP, Gujarat

Lucknow: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday conducted raids in Uttar Pradesh as well as Gujarat in connection with the probe into embezzling of funds from the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Raids were conducted in Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Agra as well as in Vaapi, Gujarat, CBI sources said.

The action, seen as knee-jerk, comes after a severe rap by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Wednesday in which the court asked the premier investigative agency whether it wanted to further probe the matter or give up.

A bench of Justices Imtiaz Murtza and A.K. Singh had asked the investigative agency on why the progress was so tardy.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the alleged irregularities and the murders of two chief medical officers B.P. Singh and V.K. Arya, the bench summoned CBI's investigating officers and asked them to be present before the court Sep 12.

The medical officers were murdered after they had begin their inquiry into irregularities in the NRHM.

Politicians, bureaucrats and medical officers allegedly siphoned an estimated Rs.10,000 crore from the NRHM, a central government programme meant to improve healthcare in rural areas.

The agency has named former minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Pradeep Shukla in the scam.